Ottawa elementary teachers discuss strike, contract issues
Teachers from Broadview Public School and Devonshire Public School were guests on Ottawa Morning
As the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario plans to launch strike action on Monday, Ottawa Morning host Robyn Bresnahan spoke to two local teachers about some of the main sticking points at the bargaining table.
Rachel Inch, a Grade 7 and Grade 8 teacher at Broadview Public School, said that the number of students in each class is an important issue, especially because she does not have a teaching assistant.
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"I've had classes of 39 students, 37, 38. I have a split class of 32 this year, Grades 7 and 8 students. Those are substantial bodies in the room, especially at the age of 14," she said.
"We all love our jobs. We do the very best job we possibly can but I just feel like the conditions are being eroded such that we can't do what we know is best for our students that we work with every day. People who don't work with those kids are trying to tell us how it's done."
This is not about money.- Rachel Inch, Broadview Public School teacher
Stephen Skoutajan, a Grade 4 teacher at Devonshire Public School, told host Robyn Bresnahan that one issue the provincial government and the Ontario Public School Boards' Association are discussing is how much control principals should have over teachers.
"We're concerned about the de-professionalizing of teachers. Being able to dictate what we do at our own prep time is really important. This is on the table," he said.
Skoutajan and Inch both emphasized that working conditions, not salaries, are at the heart of the dispute.
"This is not about money," Inch said. "They haven't even gotten to the point when they can discuss compensation because what they put in place — they being the government, who came to the bargaining table — we can't get beyond that."
The union's president Sam Hammond told CBC News earlier this week that parents will be told more about what to expect during a potential labour action by Thursday night or Friday morning after leadership talks to teachers.